Revolution of 2059
The Revolution of 2059, or sometimes known as the Second American Revolution or the Royalist Revolution, was a series of nationwide and continent wide protests, sometimes armed, from February of 2059 to November of that same year, most of which were in favor of a new monarchist government. Origins The years of 2057 to early 2059 was a time of terror. The formerly United States of America was still embroiled in its second civil war. The Union States, who made up New England, the Midwest, Hawaii, and Alaska, were fighting their former brothers and sister in the rebel "nations" of the Confederate States of America, which made up the south east and south central states, except for the Virginias and the western half of Texas, and the Socialist States, who made up the western states. General Arthur Macillium Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, had led campaigns that obliterated the south by mid 2057, and the people of the Union were overjoyed, high, and prideful from victory, but they did not credit such victories to the government they stood behind, which had dissolved into squabbles amongst themselves thanks in part to a polarized congress and a weak, controlling president who second guessed every move his commanders attempted to make, crippling the advances of their forces. Instead, the people gave the victory to the individual men and women fighting and to the Macillium family. Besides Arthur Jr., all but the youngest of the Macillium sons were fighting in battle, along with two of the Macillium daughters. The respected yet retired Arthur Sr. also fought, but with his words; he made televised speeches to the public and to the government in support of American reunification, yet denied no criticism to said government. The wisdom in his words soothed the minds of the populace and harkened back to the days of his own Presidency. Most people had adored Arthur Sr. during those days, and now people adored him even more, understanding how much worse off they are now. Many asked the question of why the now middle-aged man couldn't lead as he once did, as he legally could not hold anymore power. Monarchism, an ideal of little strength in the republican America, had begun to gain momentum, albeit gradually, mostly with the intent of putting the old Macillium on a hypothetical throne. Meanwhile, the Union Army headed west to bear the fall of Socialist States, now with the former Confederates standing shoulder to shoulder with their Union brothers. The Socialists held fast in the Rocky Mountains, spurning the advances of union divisions while simultaneously invading the Mexican states of Baja and Sonora as well as the the Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia, whilst raiding the Yukon, partially as an attempt to reach Alaska by land. This situation made the Civil War a continental conflict. Mexico and Canada The respective governments of America's neighbors, Canada and Mexico, were already heavily reliant on the United States government following their countries' destruction during Earth's Third World War, so the subsequent civil war in America severely weakened them as well. When the war became continental and the Socialists invaded, Canada and Mexico pledged their support (of what little they could muster) to the Union, in hopes of retaining the status quo. Unfortunately, just like America proper, the war would further desolate these countries. However, the people of these nations were also growing in their own distaste for their governments due to their inability to defend their countrymen. Mexican and Canadian citizens alike already were well educated on who the Macilliums were and what they have done, and many desired their return to prominence, as under Arthur Sr.'s administration peace and prosperity were commonplace as their motherlands slowly rebuilt in the aftermath of WWIII. Following the shocking invasion of the socialists in the west, Arthur Jr. called upon his younger brother Charles "Ironguts" Macillium and a few other officers to dispatch the invaders in Canada and sent his second in command, the rough and rowdy Edward Blackburn, to dispel them in the south. Although these orders negated the socialist advances, it did not stop the war in Mexico and Canada. Revolution Begins By late 2058, the Civil War had escalated in the North and South but the socialists had spread themselves to thin, and as a result the Union Army slowly advanced across the Rockies. During the campaign, the monarchists had begun to organize and were now leading small protests in the east. By the pass of the New Year, they were well prepared to organize long standing protests across the east-coast. On February 17, 2059, what would be called the Second American Revolution began in earnest with the Georgetown Marches. Starting from Georgetown, thousands throughout the District of Columbia proceeded to congest the streets to their curbs in protest, bearing provocative signs dictating their desire for change. All of them met outside the fences of the White House, filling the roads so entirely that no vehicle could pass. President Leslie Tang was forced out of his home at the behest of the Secret Service by helicopter to escape the potential wrath of the protesters. From Camp David, Tang declared Arthur Sr. (believing him a usurper) a traitor to the United States and ordered a group of M.P.s to arrest him for treason, an incredibly risky action given that it nearly jeopardized his leading commander's loyalty. The President's intent was to end the protests before they got out of hand. If anything, this move had the opposite effect. Many more marches followed demanding the elder Macillium's release. The President remained silent, but showed no signs of letting the man free. For the next three months, the protests became a growing thorn in the side of the Tang Administration, and was a constant reminder of the fact that the people were losing faith in the President and his government. By the end of the third month, these protesters had enhanced their size so that they touched every state in some form or another, even into the reincorporated southern states. These mere protests spiraled out into full blown revolution. On June 3rd, three armed uprisings shocked the fractured nation. In New York, Time Square was forcibly taken over by a legion of armed protesters working jointly with a few other groups who attempted to take Long Island. At almost the exact same time, another group of insurgents successfully took control of the West Point Military Academy, a feat made easier by the assistance of some of the very students enrolled there. A day following these armed takeovers was the storming Lionsgate Penitentiary-the massive super-prison designed to hold the most heinous of criminals-to free the incarcerated Arthur Sr. Both the Time Square Revolt and the Storm of Lionsgate ended in terrific failure, with all of the protesters (most of whom were WWIII veterans) either being killed in a firefight or arrested. The six days that followed were known as the Six Days of Fire; for these 144 hours, armed attacks and violent protests marred New England all the way to New Orleans, spurned by the public outrage over Tang's attempt at putting down the insurgencies. Still at Camp David and still unable to return to the White House, the President rescinded his arrest of the Macillium and gave him a reluctant presidential pardon. The move cooled the hostility of the revolutionaries, or at least ceased their violent actions. Beyond the East Following the violence of early June and the freeing of Arthur Sr., the revolution died away from the public eye for a time thanks in part to the victories in Alberta which halted the advance of the Socialist States. Nevertheless, Canada was crippled and divided. Canadian Prime Minister Anne Marie Payette was barely able to retain her position but managed to keep her country together, at least for the moment. Mexico was not nearly so lucky. The Mexican president, Juan-Diego Galvez, was not only driven from his state visit to Monterrey but was captured, as was most of his government. Leaderless and splintered, Mexico descended into chaos, the countryside falling into warlordism. To make matters worse, the Socialists pushed farther south, invading the states of Durango and Sinaloa, not to mention a stalling of the advances of U.S. Army after their defeat at the Battle of Torreón. But terror also sowed the seeds of revolution. Monarchist sentiment grew in Mexico, first in Veracruz by the liberal activist Lorenzo Álvarez, a half-Cuban half-Mexican who fought in WWIII and knew the dangers of war. He supported a social democratic state that held royalist principles. In the final week of June, he and his supporters declared the Free State of Veracruz, later as the Free State of Veracruz and the Yucatan, as an independent state based on his ideals with him serving as dictator. As a result of his control over Veracruz and the peninsular states, his Free State became the center of the revolution's Mexican theater and of Mexican independence in general. Back in America proper, the revolution had spread even into the totalitarian confederation of the Socialist States, where even bloodier insurrections began in earnest, many of which were set in the Socialist capital of Los Angeles. Unlike most of the movements across the continent, these revolutionaries were significantly more radical and terroristic. One group even attempted to assassinate the Socialist dictator Bennet F. Johnson at a rally in Vancouver. Final Stages By August, the revolution had risen back to the forefront of the news. Newspapers and news channels across the continent documented the events of the revolution, which further increased the word of it to the people. Because of this, it became quite a popular movement, and Macillium Sr. became its face even before he ever formally joined. Also as a result of the media coverage, the various cells and clubs of royalist revolutionaries more or less united together as one force, and due to the movement's popularity did the government officially end their attempts to quell the uprisings. During this, Arthur Macillium Jr. and his forces finally managed to break through the Rocky Mountain Line en masse and continued to march westaward. The Socialists massed a counter attack, but were brutally routed and defeated, and they were especially embarrassed at the Battle for Salt Lake City, where nearly all of their troops were either captured or killed even though their force was numerically three times the size of the Union force. With the Rockies secured and Socialist supply lines to the north severed, Macillium Jr. and his forces sped westward without any obstacles, conquering Utah, Idaho, Washington and Oregon, but in his eyes progress was too slow, so he dropped a force 30,000 thousand marines from Hawaii just south of Los Angeles. This action was well timed given that the Socialist forces in their nation's interior were mostly incapacitated from the invasion, so the defense around Los Angeles was minimal. These marines, nicknamed the "Hawaii Hellhounds," slowly lured the forces defending the Socialist capital, engaging and distracting them as the frontliners pushed from the North and East. And on September 3rd, 2059, Los Angeles was surrounded; the last legions of the westerners gathered in and around the city, although they were immensely demoralized from their recent failures. Attempts by the southern forces in Mexico to return to California were made but they were cut off by the armies of Edward Blackburn, who wished to make up for his mistake at Monterrey. After four days of battle from the air, the sea, and the ground, Los Angeles fell and the Socialist government surrendered with signing the Treaty of Sacramento. The continent at first rejoiced, but then they mourned the destruction of war and began a continental reconstructive project. Still, the revolution did not end with the civil war. For two more months, despite the need for reconstruction, the revolutionaries continued to filibuster for change. During those two months Arthur Macillium Sr. formally joined the royalists and only with his help did they give an outline of their views and announced it to the world with the Pittsburgh Proclamation: We, the rightful citizens of this nation, hereby deem that our government has misused and misled our faith. We see the need, the desire, and long-overdue chance for change. We will not and do not lust for conflict with our neighbor or with our brothers and sisters in this nation. However, we will be heard. Our chant of change will not fall on deaf ears. Yet we recognize that our proclamation on this day will surely shock the world. Some will deem us as radicals; Some will deem us as heroes. Even so we want to the world to know our demands of this government: # We will have a more decisive legislative branch. # We will have a head of state who can have advanced veto power # We will have a head of state who will have increased executive power # We will end bureaucracy within the government to make lawmaking and law enforcing more efficient. # We will end the dominance of the two party system. Following the proclamation, the revolution grew even more united after a formal union between the revolutionaries of the Mexican and Canadian theaters, forming the Monarchist Party. The party implored the implementation of a new government over a pan-North American state headed by Arthur Macillium Sr. In late October, President Leslie Tang resigned as did his Vice President. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ashley King, did not want the Presidency and supported the idea of putting Sr. back in a place of power, and on November 14th Arthur Anthony Macillium Sr. was proclaimed King Anthony I, officially ending the United States. Mexico, still shellshocked from the Civil War, was still rebuilding. Lorenzo Álvarez, who was the acting Head of State in Mexico, asked to join the new Kingdom of America. The former United Mexican States were formally annexed into the kingdom on the 19th. Canada, equally reliant on the former United States, formally joined as well three days later. Aftermath King Anthony would rule successfully over continental North America for two decades and was praised for being a major contributor in the creation of the Royal American Constitution. In 2060, Anne Marie Payette ran and won against the stand-in Ashley King for the Presidency, which became the paramount minister to the monarch. Álvarez became the first leader of the Liberal Party, the reformed Democratic Party. His policies on the actions of his party were respected and in 2067 he was named Duke of Veracruz. He also supported the annexation of his father's homeland of Cuba, which joined the Kingdom of America two years after the end of the revolution. Later on, all the Carribean would join. Unfortunately in the 2300s, Mexico declare its independance.